


Don't Forget to Remember

by heyjupiter



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 08:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8743333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/pseuds/heyjupiter
Summary: As a CIA agent, Moira's been trained in how to interpret information. After getting her memories back in Egypt, she has a lot of new information to process and not a lot of time to decide how to proceed.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



"I'm on a beach, in Cuba, with you," Charles said, as he pressed his hand against Moira's and sent images flooding into her mind. She blinked as she understood what had happened; he had stolen memories from her, and now he was returning them. A hell of a time he picked, although she supposed it was better now than never. 

"I'm sorry," Charles said. "I should never have taken those from you."

"You--" Moira said, and blinked back tears. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kurt appearing in their midst, asking what he had missed. She was asking herself the same question.

She took another moment to try to make sense of it, and then moved on to triage the situation. She'd thought Charles was dead--she'd thought they were all dead--and for the moment, they weren't. This betrayal could wait. "We can talk about that later. We need to get out of here," she said. 

"I'll get the others," Kurt said. 

Charles nodded and closed his eyes in thought. He looked exhausted. "Everyone's alive...everyone we came with, anyway. Peter's badly hurt. He can't walk."

Moira frowned. Peter's skills would have been useful for evacuation, but at least all their students had made it. Kurt returned with Peter, who was obviously in pain. Kurt continued to vanish and return, quickly bringing the rest of their scraggly band together, including a newcomer, the girl with white hair.

"Okay. Good. That's good," Moira said. "We should figure out where we're going. And how we're getting there. I have some contacts in Cairo."

"No," Charles said, his voice weak. "Moira, I trust you...but I can't trust the CIA. Not with all of their lives."

Moira pursed her lips. Having recently been abducted by the military--despite having identified herself as a CIA agent--she understood Charles's caution more than ever. And she was a little afraid he'd erase her memories again if she pressed too hard on this.

 _I would,_ Charles said in her head. _I would, I'm sorry, but to protect these children, I would do it again. But I know I can trust you._

"You can't threaten someone and tell them you trust them in the same sentence, Charles," Moira said.

"He's pretty talented that way," Raven said. "I have some connections who could help."

"Why don't we just fix your plane?" Magneto asked. 

Moira turned to look at him. She had to fight to keep her face neutral. She knew the situation was complex, and she suddenly had memories of having worked with Magneto twenty years ago...but it was hard not to look at Magneto and see the man who'd killed Kennedy, the man who'd threatened Nixon on television. The man who, until very recently, had been allied with En Sabah Nur.

"That's going to take a long time, if it's possible at all," Hank said gloomily. "And Peter needs medical attention as soon as possible."

"No, I'm fine," Peter said. "Just kidding, I just wanted to sound tough. It hurts really bad."

"There was a medical kit on the plane, it would have some painkillers at least, if it survived the crash," Hank said. Instantly, Kurt appeared with it. Then he sat down abruptly. Moira wasn't an expert on the limitations of his powers, but she guessed he must be coming right up on them.

"If we stay here much longer, people are going to come looking for us," Moira warned, as Hank tended to Peter. "That wasn't exactly a subtle display."

"I can help...I just need to rest," Kurt said.

"You did very well today, Kurt. You should rest," Charles said kindly. "We'll be fine."

"Wait, where's Jean?" Scott asked. 

Moira looked around. It was hard to keep track of everyone amidst the rubble, but she was supposed to be observant. It was part of her job.

Charles said, "She's with Er--Magneto. They went to fix the plane?"

"They're what?" Hank asked.

"It might be possible actually...they've both recently had...enhanced gifts," Charles said. "And Erik always had a very mechanical mind…" 

"I'm going to go check on them," Hank said. Kurt tried to stand up but stumbled.

"Verzeihung," he said. "I cannot…"

"Don't worry, Kurt, I'll walk. Thanks," Hank said, and he bounded off. 

"He worked so hard on that plane," Raven said. 

"It would be great if they could fix it," Moira said.

Minutes passed, and some of the students started making congratulatory small talk. She turned to Charles and said, "Interesting time for a haircut, by the way."

Charles reached up and stroked his hair. "Maybe it will grow back." 

"Maybe it will," she said. 

"Moira, I--" and he stopped when Hank's plane appeared, hovering in front of the open-air room they occupied before landing on the ground. "They did it."

"That was fast."

"They're very powerful," Charles murmured.

Outside, she asked Hank, "Are you sure this is airworthy? It needed so many repairs…"

"We can do another pre-flight check, but...yes," Hank said. 

"I saw the plans in Hank's mind," Jean said, "and Magneto helped me put everything in the right place."

Moira blinked. Jean didn't look much older than her son, but she was clearly an incredible powerful mutant. 

"Let's go home," Jean said.

Moira nodded and took her place in the copilot's seat. She did the safety check and marveled at the plane. It really was like new. 

Hank plotted their flight plan. He asked, "Do you need to stop in Cairo or anywhere else before New York?"

She considered. For her story's sake, it would be best if she returned to the US through official channels. But Hank needed a copilot and she didn't think anyone else was up to the task. There were children who needed to get home. "No, let's get back as quickly as possible. I'll file in DC when I can. I--I'd like to call my son, though." 

"Of course," Hank said. "All our on-board communications are back online."

"I'll be quick, I just--" she dialed the number. It rang until Moira heard her mother's answering machine picked up. "Mom, Kevin...it's me. I love you and I'll be home as soon as I can."

Behind her, Charles said, "They're both fine, love. They're asleep. I'm sure they'll kick themselves for missing your call."

"You could have saved me an expensive call," Moira said, embarrassed that her voice had shaken.

Charles smiled. "I'm sure they'd find your message more reassuring than some stranger appearing in their mind."

"That's true. Thank you," Moira said. She cleared her throat. "Is everyone buckled in?"

"Yes," Charles answered.

She and Hank went through their takeoff, and everything went shockingly smoothly. Jean and Charles helped them keep off everyone's radar, figuratively and literally. Once they were over the ocean, Charles fell asleep, and Moira allowed herself permission to study her recently-returned memories. 

She felt so foolish. She'd known all these people twenty years ago. She'd helped train some of them. She'd been in Cuba. She'd tried to shoot _Magneto_ with a _bullet_. She'd kissed Charles. She'd forgotten all of it. She'd chalked those rare flashes of memory up to strange deja vu. Now she thought Charles's awkwardness when he'd come to her office recently in a new light. It was strange to contrast it with her memories of him in Oxford, a flirty lush who had behaved completely unprofessionally toward her. Yet she'd found him charming? Part of her still found him charming. But how could she ever trust a man who could do something like that to her?

She sighed heavily. "Are you alright?" Hank asked politely. 

"No," Moira said. "Why didn't you tell me we'd met before?"

Hank raised his eyebrows. "You remember?"

"Yes, Charles gave me my memories back…" 

Hank said, carefully, "I can't excuse what Charles did--"

"Damn right you can't."

"--but I can say that he...he had a bad go of things after Cuba. For a long time. But I know he thought he was protecting you."

"I'm a CIA agent. I can protect myself."

"I suppose you can."

They flew on in silence, and made it back to the school uneventfully. After the plane was put away, she changed into the clothes she'd left at the school before Egypt, and slipped out to her car amidst the general chaos caused by their return to the school. She left a slight touch on her mind, but there were no words with it. She couldn't even be sure if it had been Charles or Jean. 

She stopped at a gas station for the largest coffee she could buy and drove all morning to her mother's house in Virginia, where she got a loving lecture from her mother, a hug from her son, and a hot shower. 

"You know, Moira, a mother should consider a safer line of work," Moira's mother said. "Maybe you could go back to being a secretary?" 

"I do my work to make the world safer for every mother's children," Moira said. It was a conversation they'd had many times; at this point she was pretty sure her mother was only saying her lines out of habit.

"I don't want Mom to be a secretary," Kevin said. Moira smiled to herself, and resolved to get Kevin some candy on the way home. "It would be cool if you owned an arcade, though," he added thoughtfully. On second thought, Moira figured he'd probably had plenty of sweets at Grandma's house.

"Anyway, Mom, thanks for watching Kevin. We've got to get back, though."

"Why don't you let him stay here awhile longer? If I know you, you're just going to go right back to the office."

Moira hesitated. It was true. She had missed Kevin, but she did have work to do. "Kev? What do you want to do?"

"I'll stay with Grandma," Kevin said. "We were going to make cookies today."

"Okay," Moira said. "Save me one? And I promise we'll go to the arcade this weekend."

"It's Saturday," Kevin said.

Moira winced. "Maybe tomorrow? Or next weekend?"

"Just go save the world, Mom, I'll be fine," he said with an eyeroll. She hugged him again and went straight to her office. It was Saturday, but the world was in crisis, so most people were there. Moira would have preferred to avoid talking to them, but it was impossible. She wished that, like Charles, she could prevent people from noticing her. Or that, like Raven, she could make herself someone else. But she was Moira MacTaggert, and she was going to have to talk to her boss. She'd survived En Sabah Nur, and she'd survive this.

"Agent MacTaggert! Thank god you're alright," Deputy Director Carlson said. "We feared the worst when you missed your last check-in."

"Oh--yes, I'm fine. Thank you. I apologize for not calling in--I had some...difficulty with comms."

"Yes, a lot of systems have been offline around the world. So…what's your situation report?"

Moira looked at her hands. "I'll need some time to prepare my written report."

"Of course. But in short, what happened? Is the situation with En Sabah Nur resolved? From what we've heard, it sounds as if he was even more powerful than you feared."

"Yes...I believe he was. But the situation is resolved."

"But...how?"

Moira pursed her lips. She had to choose her words carefully. "I had some help from some other mutants."

"That's very unorthodox."

"I worked with the resources I had at my disposal."

"I suppose you did. Where are those mutants now? And who are they?"

"I'm not sure where they are," Moira said, which was technically true. They could be in the gym, the living room, the backyard… "And I'll have to go over my files to compare them against what I saw. It was...it was all very overwhelming. Some of what I saw was very hard to believe." Here she was walking a fine line; she didn't want to appear weak. She didn't want her story to become unreliable. But her exhaustion wasn't feigned, and she was sure that was apparent in her face.

"I see. Well, we'll expect full details in your report, of course."

"Of course," Moira said. 

He looked her over critically. "You're dismissed, Agent MacTaggert. Get some rest, and I'll expect your report on Monday."

"Thank you, sir," Moira said. She went to her office and gathered the papers and files she would need. She debated staying in her office with the door locked until nightfall. Instead, she spent an hour catching up on memos she'd missed, then strode back out through the office with her head held high. She knew her colleagues had questions for her, but she knew that if she looked purposeful enough, they wouldn't stop her. And they didn't.

She went home and collapsed into her own bed. She slept for ten hours and awoke physically refreshed, but mentally still confused. She needed to figure out what she'd tell the CIA. She thought about the disoriented report she'd given after Cuba, and still cringed at the memory. She could understand why Charles had done what he'd done, but she didn't have to like it. It had taken her years to rebuild her reputation after that. She'd risen in the CIA ranks since 1963, but still, she knew she'd have to be on her game. There still weren't many other women at her level, and none who shared her decidedly suspect fascination with mutants. Of course, her knowledge was useful, but that didn't stop people from snickering behind her back.

Moira made herself a strong cup of coffee, picked Kevin's plush Elliot the dragon off the kitchen floor, and started making notes for herself. She'd been writing for an hour when the she heard a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a man wearing a PEPCO shirt.

She opened the door and said, "Yes?"

"Excuse me, ma'am, we've had reports of power fluctuations on your block. May I come inside and check your wiring?"

"I haven't had any problems."

"This could be a preventative measure. Perhaps you've heard, there's been a worldwide electromagnetic event, it's caused all kinds of problems."

"Could I see your ID?"

The man sighed and produced a badge. Moira studied it and let him in. Once inside, he said, "Follow me, ma'am," and led her to her study. "Moira, it's me, Raven," the man said. He looked the same, but for a moment, he spoke with Raven's voice.

Years of practice prevented Moira from yelping in surprise, but she did feel her eyebrows go up. "You could have just called, Raven."

"I thought it would be better if we spoke in person. And more secure," Raven said, her voice once again blandly masculine. "You never know who might be watching."

"Did Charles send you?" Moira asked suspiciously.

"No. I came on my own."

"Very well. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Do you usually make the utility man coffee?"

"I suppose not."

"I came to tell you that Charles's school _has_ to stay secret. I don't blame you for being angry at him, but--"

Moira raised her hand. "Of course. I understand completely. I was kidnapped by the military too, you remember. I know what others at the CIA would want to do with Charles's ability. It's best they not know." This had been the crux of her internal debate; she had to be sure that protecting Charles was the best thing for the safety of her country, of the world. If she had to, if she truly believed it was the best thing to do, Moira would be morally obligated to reveal all that she knew. But--no matter how he'd treated her--she still trusted Charles to use his powers more responsibly than she trusted anyone else to use those powers.

"Stryker," Raven said, and Moira recognized her anger in the PEPCO employee's face. "Yes. But what are you going to tell the CIA?"

"Well, I'm working on that," Moira admitted. "It's the truth to say I don't really understand how you all defeated En Sabah Nur. I think that most higher-ups will be happy enough that things worked out that they might be willing to look the other way."

"En Sabah Nur detonated all the nuclear missiles in the world," Raven said. "There are going to be questions."

Moira sighed. "Yeah. I definitely don't want anyone looking too closely at Charles. I...in spite of everything, I trust him with his abilities more than I trust anyone else to use them. I...with my investigations, there have always been people who come to me asking questions about mutants, like they're weapons to be used, not people. I don't want to be a part of that."

Raven nodded. "There will be backlash against mutants, no matter what. Humans are afraid of things they don't understand. You should tell the CIA that Erik and I were the ones who defeated En Sabah Nur. They don't have to know Charles was there, and especially not Jean."

Moira nodded, thinking quickly. "Yes. People are already afraid of Magneto...but this might let them see another side of him. It would be...hopeful, even. Are you sure you're willing to have your name used for this? As you say...there will be questions."

"Of course." Raven-as-electrician smiled. "I'll be fine anywhere. Erik and I can survive underground if we need to."

"There's still the matter of Charles's voice in everyone's heads...but I suppose there's no reason that couldn't have just been En Sabah Nur. As far as the CIA knows. And then there are the other Horsemen...they wouldn't have any association with Charles. The CIA could investigate them all they wanted. I'll be sure to describe them in detail."

"Maybe not Storm," Raven said, with a grimace.

"Yes. Of course," Moira said, remembering the girl who had joined them. "But the others?"

Raven nodded. "We'll give you a chance to smooth things over with your job, and then we'll release a statement to the press. We'll corroborate you."

Moira smiled. "You know, if you ever wanted a job, your skills would come in very handy in my line of work…"

Raven laughed. "No, thank you. But it's good to have a person on the inside we can trust."

"Thank you, for trusting me."

"And for what it's worth...I don't think Charles took your memories because he didn't trust you. I just...he always thinks he knows what's best for people. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is…" Raven trailed off, and for a moment that middle-aged man's face had the exact same expression as an irritated teenage girl. "But I think he was trying to protect you."

"I've heard that."

"Well, now you can protect him."

Moira smiled. "I will."

"I'd better go. But thank you for listening."

"Of course. And let me give you the number of my secure line...in case I have any more electrical emergencies." Moira scribbled a number on a piece of scrap paper and walked Raven to the door. Then she sat down and carefully wrote her official report. Now that she had the full story, she could do her job. She could protect America's citizens, and make a safer world for the next generation. For all of them.


End file.
